Darknet markets present challenges in regard to legality. Bitcoins and other forms of cryptocurrency used in dark markets are not clearly or legally classified in almost all parts of the world. In the U.S., bitcoins are labelled as "virtual assets". This type of ambiguous classification puts pressure on law enforcement agencies around the world to adapt to the shifting drug trade of dark markets.[75]
In October 2015,[62] a development governance was proposed as Ethereum Improvement Proposal, aka EIP, standardized on EIP-1.[63] The core development group and community were to gain consensus by a process regulated EIP. A few notable decisions were made in the process of EIP, such as EIP-160 (EXP cost increase caused by Spurious Dragon Hardfork)[64] and EIP-20 (ERC-20 Token Standard).[65] In January 2018, the EIP process was finalized and published as EIP-1 status turned "active".[62] Alongside ERC-20, notable EIPs to have become finalised token standards include ERC-721[66] (enabling the creation of non-fungible tokens, as used in Cryptokitties) and as of June 2019, ERC-1155 [67] (enabling the creation of both fungible and non-fungible tokens within a single smart contract with reduced gas costs).

Markets are dirty. But this doesn‘t change the fact that cryptocurrencies are here to stay – and here to change the world. This is already happening. People all over the world buy Bitcoin to protect themselves against the devaluation of their national currency. Mostly in Asia, a vivid market for Bitcoin remittance has emerged, and the Bitcoin using darknets of cybercrime are flourishing. More and more companies discover the power of Smart Contracts or token on Ethereum, the first real-world application of blockchain technologies emerge.

On 3 January 2009, the bitcoin network was created when Nakamoto mined the first block of the chain, known as the genesis block.[25][26] Embedded in the coinbase of this block was the text "The Times 03/Jan/2009 Chancellor on brink of second bailout for banks".[16] This note references a headline published by The Times and has been interpreted as both a timestamp and a comment on the instability caused by fractional-reserve banking.[27]:18